Manchester United have today been linked with an audacious move for one of the better playmakers in world football. The Sun reckons:
MANCHESTER UNITED are lining up a record-breaking bid for Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez.
The 24-year-old joined Real Madrid in a £63m deal after the 2014 World Cup and Manchester United are believed to be sizing up the possibility of making a British-record bid for him.
How Manchester United could use the guile and drive of a player like this right now.
The 24-year-old Colombian has played 40 times for his nation and scored 13 times. At Madrid he has hit the net 20 times in 58 games from the wing or the number 10 position.
His international career was punctuated by superb performances at The World Cup in Brazil 2014, where he well and truly got Real Madrid’s attention.
He started his career in Spain well but he has only played 7 times this season and, perhaps in a portent of things to come, he wasn’t selected for Zinedine Zidane’s first game in charge – the 5-0 thumping of Deportivo La Coruna last weekend.
It is of course a squad game and the likelihood of Real Madrid letting a player this young and talented leave is still remote. Especially given the recent ban imposed on Madrid, which will stop them from adding to their squad next summer or in the following winter window.
Let’s see him doing his thing. Manchester United fans: an ideal solution to inject some creativity and pace?